Down 2 and on the Ropes

This stat line from last night’s 94-82 loss to the Cavs in game two pretty much sums up the series thus far for Pistons fan, the Cavaliers never trailed in the ball game and were up by 27 points after three quarters. Another lackluster game for Detroit, whoa are now on the ropes going into game three and four at the Palace.

Key Points:

Dyess says it all “They are the best team in the league and they are at home, but at the same time, we’ve got to play with some type of heart,” We’re just going through the motions, it seems like.” When asked why that was, McDyess said, “Your guess is better than mine.” Via The Detroit News

If you watched just five minutes (besides when the bench made their comeback) of the game you could see the flat performance Detroit put forth. A carbon copy of Game One eerily like most of the season for Detroit. Is it that they just don’t care or are they just outmatched? Maybe 50/50.

14 first quarter points, 18 second and third quarter points aren’t going to will you any ball game let alone a playoff game against the #1 seed.

The Cavs were up by 29 points in the fourth quarter until their bench blew most their lead against Detroit’s bench courtesy of Will Bynum. James had to return to hold off the Pistons and secure the win.

Rasheed Wallace, who scored just 8 with 4 boards in 25 minutes on the floor scored zero points in the paint and quite honestly looked like he wanted nothing to do with what was going on Tuesday night. To me he looked like he checked out as soon as he stepped on the court. The fire is obviously gone. Wasn’t it Sheed who claimed they needed to Knuckle Up? What happened?

Photo/Getty Images

Though I tried to watch the local broadcast in favor of TNT, High Def won out and I heard something that I hoped wasn’t the case but just might be form Doug Collins when he said “It looks like Detroit doesn’t’ want to come back to the Q for a game five.” It sure looks that way now doesn’t it?

At this point you can cry Fire Curry all you want, but he’s not the one on the court playing like he doesn’t give a damn.

Four Pistons in double figures and two of them are Afflalo and Bynum.

Amir Johnson on his Tech after shoving VareJOKE: “I wasn’t going to let him punk me. I did what I had to do.” Via The Detroit Free Press Good for you Amir, too bad you couldn’t slap that smirk off of that clowns face.

The opposite of small ball when Curry put a lineup of Tayshaun Prince,Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown and Antonio McDyess. That didn’t work either.

Start Will Bynum at point is the chant I’m hearing from Pistons fans, and quite honestly they have nothing to lose at this point. Bynum once again was the spark for Detroit sparking a 27-5 run in the fourth quarter. Sure it was without LeBron on the floor for the Cavs, but it put Detroit back in striking distance. Bynum finished with 13 points in 18 minutes adding 5 assists, 4 boards and 2 steals.

Photo/Getty Images

Was it just me or did most of the game consist of either Rip taking a jumper or Stuckey trying to drive the lane or settling for a shot. Rip or Stuckey….I wanted to scream for them to move the ball and try something else because it clearly wasn’t working.

“Our bench played well,” McDyess said. “As far as the starters, we didn’t come out and do the job we were assigned to do. It’s like they were doing anything they wanted on offense. We weren’t giving no resistance to stop them or making it tough on them. Via NBA.com

The Cavs held the Pistons to 39.5% shooting and outrebounded the Detroit 43-34.

I used to appreciate Mo Williams, but it seems as though he’s caught come cockiness now that he’s in Cleveland.

Rip Hamilton led the Pistons with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting. But but that isn’t saying much either, he was a -30 for the game

Photo/Getty Images

Tayshaun Prince, another less than stellar game (and that’s being kind). Prince went 1-for-5 for 2 points and three boards. Dana Gauruder of the Oakland Press“Prince is a more maddening case. He seems to be full of excuses every postseason. Before, he’d decline in the conference finals. This year, he’s gone into the tank from the start. He’s averaging 6 points in his last six postseason games.”

Aggressive in game 2….nope! Detroit was 13-for-16 for the line. Cleveland….32-for-43. LeBron once again went to the line more than the entire Detroit team going 13-for-17.

Huge Piston Roundtable over at Pistons Powered with all of your favorite Pistons Bloggers as well as Newspaper columnists.

The Cavs have now won six straight playoff games over The Pistons.

Highlights from NBA.com if you dare.

You can will them to Win all you want, but if they don’t come to play how does that help? I will support the Pistons no matter what, but being confident in a team that hasnt even shown heart is another thing altogether. You may feel different, but this team hasn’t showed me much to beleive in. How do you feel after game two?

58 Responses to "Down 2 and on the Ropes"

How disappointing!!!! I’m not going to spend any more money on the Pistons, if they don’t want to spend anymore time playing. What a bummer!!!! I still watch my DVR of games where they played together, and my DVD of the championship in 04. Too bad they aren’t interested in winning……sorry, but I’m bummed! I’m really not sure why there is even a question of Stuckey sitting and Bynam starting. Bynam works out there every night…..can’t say the same for the 2nd year PG…..oh well, I guess our Spring and Summer will start early this year!!!

There was no need to hate on Cleveland in this review. Cleveland has a right to be cocky. They worked hard all season and they earned their spot as #1 team in the NBA. Detroit has lackluster offense because of no heart or determination and it all goes back to the new coach who is awful.

And I’m sorry, Rip Hamilton isn’t a star. I really wish AI was still playing as he would at least keep it interesting. Like Charles Barkley said last night, when your team has bench players being interviewed instead of your big 3 (tay, rip, sheed)…you know your DEEEEEEEEEEEADDDDDDD.

it really sucked watching the game. i was excited to watch the second unit fight and play with heart. i don’t understand why they didnt close the game out. the starters didnt play with any passion and honestly didnt deserve to play when the second unit was giving it their all. welllll… on to the Palace and if we can pull off two games like Cleve did to us in years past — this would change the convo / complexion of the series. however, if people are going through the motions and playing like they dont give a damn… its over!

Tear this team apart! If they don’t have the heart to even try get ’em the fuck out of here! I’m sick of old man Rasheed… we are all guilty of letting him get away with too much of his bullshit. Prince used to be consistent but now he is just depressing to watch. Rip is too old to be our go-to-guy. Curry shouldn’t be given a pass just because his players are shit. It starts at the top and if I coached this team I would call out their lack of heart after every game. If he can’t command the proper respect get him the fuck outta here. Bring in Laimbeer! It’s our duty as Pistons fans to demand a change. I say take a wrecking ball to the entire squad except for Bynum and McDyess. I’m not a big Kwame fan but he’s made some surprising progress this year. His positioning is much better but his hands are still turkeys. Joe D sent our heart to Denver and now we are just a bloodless body going through the motions. With no heart (team leader) and a broken brain (Curry) this team is going nowhere in a hurry and totally unaware of everything. Serves Joe right for fucking with a working formula. Last year we had 59 wins, third most in franchise history and lost in 6 games to the team that ended up winning the championship (and we had some injuries). We got too spoiled, panicked and traded the wrong guy. Sheed should have been the one to go. Great dude who could have been a great player with a little focus and dedication. In my opinion he will be remembered for his personality, antics and as a prime example of underachievement. I don’t care about this team anymore. I can’t convince myself to try to care anymore. I’ll be rooting for Denver until this team is dismantled and rebuilt so I can have at least a little pride in my squad. These guys can’t even lose right. Maybe they should just skip games three and four and go gambling with Iverson.

This one’s on JoeD. He constructed the team, he hire the coach and the team’s playing like $hit. I’m just really, really disappointing with the recent personnel moves, be it giving away Billups or hiring Curry.

Adam, I’m more or less with you, up until you said you don’t care about the team anymore. I’ll always care about this team, and dispite Rasheed’s capabilities, he’d have been a mucb better trade item than Billups.
I preached before the Billups trade that we were spoiled and had no right to whine about a team losing in the confrence finals in 6 games. Now that everyone can all see the results of trading team chemistry for a show boat, ball hog, “super star”, and we were lucky to make the playoffs at all, people will relize that you’re very fortunate to have a team that consistently makes it to the ‘final four’.
Natalie, you read my mind about Rasheed. He looked disengaged from the very start. I’m just hoping that they all wake up when the series comes to the palace.

this is the first time in my life that I honestly can’t watch the games. It seriously feels uncomfortable for me to watch these heartless performances. Its one thing if you are struggling on offense or having a tough time stopping the cavs on defense but at least play with some fight. You can tell they don’t even want to be there, they are already looking forward to summer break. If this is the case then they shouldn’t even show up, let the fuckin bobcats play who aren’t shit but at least they will play hard and with enthusiasm and by the way have a coach that does have answers in the playoffs unlike “the players coach” michael curry. I think this team should re-tool, you aren’t going to do anything with Rasheed and Tayshaun. I’ll make an excuse for Sheed in the past few years in that being he was a great defensive presence on and off the ball and that sort of made up for his lack of production on the offensive end but Tayshaun has been so weak the past 3 years in the playoffs and regular season. I don’t know why everybody is on that guys nuts so much. There is no reason that Tayshaun should be only scoring 2 points in a game let alone a playoff game with the talent that he has. He is not aggressive at all, I think everybody loves him so much because they just keep remembering the block on reggie miller. Tayshaun, and Rasheed don’t offer this team anything anymore because they don’t have confidence in the team so why would they come out and play hard if they just believe they aren’t good enough anyways, they know they’re done. They have poor attitude and work ethic that is supposed to be put in place by the leaders of the team and they are not doing a good job at that. I have always thought that Bill Laimbeer would have been an excellent choice to coach this team, he provides the knowledge of the game and a in your face intensity where his players don’t make it easy for anybody on the other team. You can’t blame Joe for trying to do something with the Iverson trade, no matter how you look at it, even with Chuancey on this team they still would of won 55 games but still would not of gotten by Clevland or Boston because it would be the same team again year after year that could not get by the conference finals. If you’re Joe you had to try to do something to make that team less predictable especially in the playoffs. Every year the pistons would lose because they didn’t have a superstar, a guy that could hit big shots down the stretch, a guy that demanded double teams so other guys could be wide open. Every year they lose in the conference finals to a team that has a superstar ( wade, lebron, pierce-garnett-allen) look at this series, I honestly think the cavs players are ok but not good, but Lebron demands so much attention that those other guys aren’t even focused on and they get so many open looks because of lebron, not one of those cavs players can create their own offense.
The pistons depend too much on their execution which in a 7 game series can be really easy to read and adjust to that if you are the other team.

One more thing, I’m not for playing dirty or trying to hurt somebody but does anybody believe anymore in knocking a guy on his ass when he goes in the paint to send him a message. I thought Amir’s hit on Lebron last night was called for in that he was letting him know you’re not going keep coming in an dunking on us like that..but he still did because the Pistons weren’t physical in the paint..Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn are rolling in thier graves right now.

Gotta love Amir’s comment! That’s awesome! As for everything else…. riiiigghht. Our offense being only a Stuckey drive or a Rip jumper is nothing new. It’s been that way all year ESPECIALLY late in close games. That is why we can never pull one out — we do the same damn thing every time down the floor. After two or three times it’s not going to be hard to stop. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

One of the announcers said great leaders spread their personality over the entire team. It doesn’t just go for great leaders. Sheed and Rip are our leaders on this team and they clearly don’t care. Their ho-hum personalities are contagious and have sunk into almost the entire team. Thank the basketball gods for having Bynum, Afflalo, and Dyess on this team. Look on the flip side. Love him or hate him, LeBron’s personality is all over the Cavs locker room. He’s got great talent, an inextinguishable drive to be the best, one of the strongest work ethics in the league, and just the mentality that when he steps on the floor he is going to do whatever it takes to win. Our leaders don’t show any of this. It’s been like this all season long. Honestly, our stars need to get over themselves and start playing basketball.

It’s not any on person’s fault. It’s a perfect storm of poor management. From Curry not getting everything out of his players, to the guys on the floor dogging it, to Joe for making hasty decisions, and even to us, as fans, for calling for drastic changes to a team that’s won a championship, was literally about a minute away from a second, went to six straight ECF (of the five times we didn’t win the ‘ship, the team we lost to won it ALL four of those times.)

Face it. We’re all to blame. We made our bed, and now we’re sleeping in it.

The Amir Maxiell combo clearly is better at stopping Lebron. It makes you wonder why we don’t use most of this dreaded season to develop those two guys. Instead we played Kwanme like he was the number 1 pick everyone thought he’d live up to be…

First time poster here but a diehard Pistons fan as far back as the Bad Boys and thats when I was about 7 haha. But anyways after reading all the pro Rip posts for most of the season on here, I just dont understand. If anyone would have been my pick to trade before this season or during it would have been Rip. He really believes he is far more of a superstar than he is. And I know he was integral in the our title run and all the ECF appearances, I have just tired of his act more than anything. The trade for AI could have worked brilliantly had we traded Rip in my opinion.

Point number two, Michael Curry is a fuckin joke as a coach. Granted at the end of Flip’s run I had some questions as far as defense goes but we look even worse this year. And also as far as Joe D goes, to me the blame should be shared by him as well. He ripped the heart of this team by trading Chauncey. He needs to have a solid summer/draft or in my opinion, Piston legend or not we find someone else to GM.

But hey just my two cents, I’m sure I may get flamed but trust me I love the Pistons and I havent given up what little hope I have.

Ya I wish the series was over. The only way you can watch the game is with the sound off. The sports announcers are so far up LeBra’s ass they can’t see the light of day. And Verijo or however you spell his name what a girlie man!!!

I tell you what, If Curry had any balls he would pull Sheed, Rip, Tay & Stucky and go with an all heart squad of Bynum, Afflalo, Maxiell, McDyess & Brown.
At least those guys want to play, and since Curry is done at the end of this season, at least he did something to be remembered by!

What’s so dissappointing is that they have not even competed with the Cavs. If they would have been two down to the wire losses, the Pistons would have something going for them. But both were blow out type losses and home court will do nothing to help their cause if you can’t even stay within 10 on their home court. There is absolutely no emotion nor fire from these guys and it seems as if they know they cannot contain the giant ego known as Lebron. They’re just going through the motions out there. It’s sad to watch. I believe most of us believe Joe’s decision to trade Chauncey was a big mistake, however, to me it was not his decision to break up the team that was the biggest mistake, it was who he decided to trade. There are two other starters that should have been traded that have lost all fire for the game long before Chauncey. Unless a big deal is made this offseason, this team is a few years away from making noise again in the playoffs.

What’s up with Lebron posing after every freakin basket? He makes a shot and stands in front of the crowd as they worship him. Odds are it’s the Lakers and Cavs in the finals, David Sterns dream, and I hope Kobe destroys that team as they have done twice already (not that I care for the Lakers either). But the Cavs need an ego check. They’re unbearable to watch.

I agree Sully….it’s annoying to hear the TNT announcers do nothing but talk about Lebron for 48 minutes as the ultimate “un-selfish” superstar.

I went to the San Antonio/Dallas game Monday night and the word “team” is plastered everywhere in the AT&T center. Watching the Cavs game on TNT, all you see is the word Lebron plastered everywhere. They can have that ego filled shit.

The reason the TNT talk about Lebron for 48 minutes is because it is depressing for anyone to talk about the effort the Pistons were putting forth. James is an incredible player, and, as much of a diehard Pistons fan that I am, there is a reason the Cavs are so good and it starts with Lebron. It is not only his skills, it is also his intensity and leadership on the court which is something the Pistons don’t have.

I’m not sure if the Pistons can steal one at the Palace, but I almost don’t want to see a game 5 down in Cleveland. I kept giving this team the benefit of the doubt, but when they don’t care, why should I? At least us Detroit fans have the Wings to watch.

I stayed up until 3 AM to see it live (I live in Israel) and I was shocked!
I saw the Pistons play horrible basketball before, especially in the Playoffs, but that was the most hurtful performance I’ve ever seen! I didn’t expect much but after all the things they said after Game 1 I thought they would at least try a little… well, they didn’t.

They turned the ball over 94327948273 times when the game was in reach at the first half, they didn’t even look at the ball when they should have taken the rebound… amazing – even the Israeli basketball isn’t that bad – I was really sad to see my beloved team play like that… or – not playing like I thought they would… again, without hoping for too much anyway.

Tay, Sheed, and Rip stopped playing even before the Allstar break. Rip showed some numbers to get back into the starting lineup, but the morale and performance from these guys really messed up the year beyond fixing.

I can’t stand watching my boys play like this…can we get the ball into Sheed more! Varejao can’t handle him and once Sheed gets rollin…we ROLL. I also can’t agree with Bynum starting. Stuckey is a better defender and has been dominating Mo Williams on those drives. Bynum is a baller, but he isn’t ready for the start. WE NEED THE D-TOWN SWAGGER BACK!

I decided not to watch Detroit in the playoffs this year after the miserable Chicago loss, until they give me a reason to watch. From the sound of it, that hasn’t happened yet. On the other hand, who would have thought the Chicago-Boston series would be so exciting. At least that underdog showed up to play. At this point, though, I don’t really care who takes the championship as long as it’s not Cleveland. If anyone takes them down, I’ll be satisfied. And go Denver out west.

1) Bench Sheed and Tayshaun. They can’t guard anyone, they can’t shoot, and they can’t or don’t want to make plays. Did you see Rasheed’s hilarious attempts at posting up Varejao? His performance looked worse than Britney Spears at last year’s Oscar’s. If the first team (minus Dyess) has already given up, don’t reward them by giving them playing time! Tell them to suit up and then sit their asses on the bench.

2) Throw away the Pistons’ playbook, and maybe tell Curry to just sit down and watch. Not only does the Rip double-screen and Stuckey pick not work, but you’re talking about the most defensively savvy team in the NBA. I didn’t watch most of last game, but the little I did see seemed to show that most of the Pistons’ points happened from unscripted plays.

3) Get someone on Detroit to stand in front of James when he drives. He doesn’t have a midrange, and he’s just barreling through defenders who won’t stand up and take the hit. PS: Wear a strong cup

If Detroit does these three things…well, they still won’t win, but at least it would be worth watching the game, and at least we wouldn’t have to watch Rasheed acting sheepish with his tail b/w his legs every possession, because he knows he’s given up on his teammates and that he sucks. That’s the worst thing about all this — it’s one thing to be realistic about your winning chances, but it’s another to just flat out give up on your teammates.

i think curry should take some of the blame for there lack of intensity. If they go out there and dont care about the game, and they dont have a garnett or derek fisher type player to get them back in it, then the coach needs take the initiative and hold the players that are DGAF-ing accountable

Dumars said that he brought curry in because sanders wasnt holding players accountable, well im sorry joe, but neither is curry

If i was coaching them last game i would have flat out sat players the whole game like sheed that gave up

We have to stop judging the Billups/Iverson trade already. Granted, the major part of the trade WAS to bring in Iverson, but another big part was the cap space. We can’t accurately judge this trade until one or even two years down the road even if the Iverson project was a failure.

Good teams are always cocky and Detroit has been there too. The Cavs have every right to be cocky. They’re one of the best teams right now and they’re putting a beat down on the Pistons. Don’t act like we wouldn’t be doing the same thing if it was the other way around.

As for the Pistons. They’re done. Kenny and Charles said it right. They’ve got one foot on the court and one foot in Cancun. This team, right now, is an absolute joke. What the hell kind of offense is standing around and then having someone go 1 on 1,2, or 3. There is no ball movement, therefor they’re really easy to defend. Especially when the Pistons 1 on 1 ability really sucks.

And their defense is, well, non existent. I’ve never seen so many guys just stand around and give up easy bucket after easy bucket.

Play the bench the rest of the series. They’re the only ones who give a crap!!!!

what famous football star or coach said when you get to the endzone act like you’ve been there before and it is no big deal. le bron freakin after every hoop against the out gunned and out coached pistons is truly annoying. screw him! what an ass! makes kobe look real mature in contrast.

People, settle down! I watched this game on TNT and I could see this team was flat from the start. Yes, the bench played well…against Cleveland’s bench. We did see good ‘D’ and easy baskets because of it against Cleveland’s bench. Bynum, unfortunately, ran out of energy.

People need to go easier on Stuck. The most difficult job in the NBA was taking over the point guard from Chauncey Billups on this immensely successful Pistons side. Remember that Stuckey has been the 2nd best sophomore all season behind Durant, but because we are losing and we compare Stuckey to Billups, we want to bench him.

No one can start blaming Tayshaun Prince. He is the MVP on this Pistons team, but he is injured and badly injured at that. Watch him, he can’t move freely and is frustrated and upset every time he watches LeBron and Co. blow past him and he can’t do anything. Maybe it would be better to start Afflalo at SF or maybe do a small ball lineup with Rip at the 3 and Bynum at the point than continue with an obviously hindered Prince, I’m not sure though.

In my opinion, people like Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell need to pick up their games and, sadly, Rasheed Wallace as well.

Finally, did we honestly think the Pistons would be great forever? Eventually, you will fall back into the pack. Just be thankful we’re in the pack not in the tail. If Joe D can rebuild this team quickly and set us up for a championship run next season then one season where we only finished 8th isn’t that bad.

Well, it looks like all that could be said has been said in this forum. The only thing I would add is, if Joe D knew what he going to be getting from Bynum, and what he is now getting from Stuckey, he wouldn’t have traded Billups. Bynum is clearly a better all around PG than Stuckey. Stuckey should be coming off the bench for Rip and Bynum should’ve been coming off the bench for Chauncey, and Sheed should’ve been out west somewhere. Well, it’s sorry to say and even harder to see, but…the Pistons as we know it are through. Their tombstone should read:

Seriously though, the starters are probably just burned out. Guy’s like Sheed and Dyess are well over 30, and have been playing two extra months a season with deep playoff runs. Prince hasn’t had a day off since 2006. These giys are just flat out tired, and it shows. They probably don’t care if they lose, as long as they can get a summer off.

Still, I’ll be there cheering them on come Friday night, hoping for a miracle.

c smith we need both stucky and bynum. I think it’s clear that we need both a starter and a backup guard and I haven’t seen anyone come off the bench as good as bynum does, it’s fantastic.

We need both point guards, if we trade away bynum we would have to recruit another guard! And bynum is one of the greatest values in the NBA. That’s joe d’s speciality btw, getting the best values in the NBA, bynum, dyess, remember we wanted to keep big ben wallace but couldn’t afford him.

I have to say one thing about ‘sheed. Rip I think is playing hard, and prince is hurt, but ‘sheed is lazy. Because of ‘sheed the pistons don’t deserve to win. They just don’t. I don’t want to see ‘sheed play another minute. I’m done with him, he can go join AI.

He can go find some other team to be the big guy that is afraid to play down low and likes to hang out on the 3 point line.

kwame brown is terrible, he has cabbages for hands, and he is lazy, but I’d rather see kwame start than ‘sheed because at least I get the feeling kwame likes to play ball. ‘sheed looks like he’d rather be fishing.

I’m sick of hearing people bash Tayshaun. I’ve given the basics in his defense already, but in these last two games people need to get over his low scoring. He’s HURT. He’s playing through serious back pain right now (unlike Iverson) and fans are complaining about him. Unbelievable how ungreatful people can be. I hope he doesn’t read any of your insults. I’d be discouraged if I was playing through extreme pain and being mocked for it. It’s half time of the Nuggets game right now and Chris Paul only has 2 points. Should he be thrown under a bus too?

The pistons are playing miserable basketball..are offence is so stagnant and our once beloved defence is no where to be found…they are not a confident team and u can see it in their body language..they feel they lost before they even take the floor..tayshaun needs to develop his dribbling because posting up from the three point line wont do..and he needs to get stronger because the leauge is now alot stronger and his length wont be able to save him…and as for the other veterans, it is by far the worst leadership weve had ever..there is no “team” evident in the pistons their offence is now a free for al…i really we change the makeup of this team in the offseason……AND BY THE WAY NAT, WATS THE WEBSITE GUNNA BE CALLED WEN SHEED LEAVES.

“He can go find some other team to be the big guy that is afraid to play down low and likes to hang out on the 3 point line.”

couldn’t have said it better.

For all these tired and hurt comments: they could get through that if they really wanted to put their minds to it. I won’t accept tired excuses. We all go to work in pain and tired, but give it our all when we want to. And we know when we’re not giving it our all. Sheed should take a bow and put on the street clothes, b/c he just isn’t mentally strong enough to overcome his moodiness.

We all love Sheed, but I don’t think he loves the game anymore. Do you remember last year during the playoffs when he ranted about the game being b.s.? I think it was after they played the Cavs and Vareflop did his best acting. I think Sheed doesn’t have the same love for the game that he once had.

KleenGee, if you’re trying to equate a professional athlete with a legitamat injury to you going into work at a domestic job with a stiff neck or a sprained ankle, you’re jsut being ignorant. A professional athlete relies on his/her body for EVERYTHING. Basketball players in particular rely on muscle memory for all that they do offensively. When you’re hurt your game suffers drammatically- it’s not something that you can just bypass because you feel like it. Tay’s making an effort and he’s being spit on by the fans for it.

– the chemistry, nobody is playing with any passion (some are, but that’s not enough in a game where you need five guys)

– a true Point Guard. I’m not saying Stuckey sucks, or he can’t play PG, but he’s either not ready to play with veteran players, or he needs to play the 2.

Of course he will learn, but Dumars wants championships. I do believe in him, and I hope his offseason can help him, but right now, he doesn’t have the qualities like one that you need to win championships, lets say, either one of the Nuggets – Hornets series (great series).

I do believe in this team, or else I wouldn’t come on this site every day. But there is a difference between a Team and a team.

You don’t win a title unless you trade for a top 5 player in the NBA…Kobe, Lebron, Chris Paul, etc…that’s not going to happen. The only solution now is to tank next season and get the SUPERSTAR we need out of the DRAFT. Other teams did it this way and now look at them…Cleveland (LeBron), NewOrleans (CP3), Nuggets (Melo), Bulls (Rose), Portland (Oden)….you have to be absolutely GARBAGE before you can get a great player….Joe D blew it with DARKO…and now we have to do it again! TANK 2010 and be back with some pride in 2011.

miguel the draft is just a roll of the dice. Think about this, of all of the #1 and #2 draft picks we have had, Kwame Brown (2001), Allen Iverson (1996), Dark Milicic (2003), Antonio McDyess (1995), who on that list is worth anything ? Just McDyess, and he wasn’t a good player for TEN YEARS, because it took that long for his knee to feel good enough and for him to relearn how to play smart thinking basketball without having to use his legs as much.

Chauncy Billups was picked 3rd, was no good for the celtics, did nothing for the nuggets, and then did nothing for the magic, did nothing for the timberwolves, when Joe D decided this would be the next superstar for the pistons, where he earned a ring. He wasn’t born “Mr. Big Shot”. He turned himself into “Mr. Big Shot.”

Remember LeBron James could have fizzled. You never know, he could have Grant Hill (picked third by the pistons in 1994). Grant Hill was expected to be the Piston’s version of Michael Jordan. But for the next decade Grant Hill couldn’t play ball because his ankles broke all the time.

Anyway, what I am getting at is that you never know with the draft. But what Joe D has done is be like a K-Mart smart shopper, he sees players that are half up and buys them, that’s the one thing he is really good at, and I suspect that is the direction the franchise will take next year.

For goodness sake, Will Bynum was playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, when Joe D brought him to detroit, talk about finding a needle in a haystack.

You are absolutely right. The draft is Dicey. There are no absolute sure things in the NBA. Just a few years ago everyone thought Okafor was a far more dominate player & a better #1 choice than Howard. No one even knew who Deron Williams, Chris Paul or Brandon Roy were in their draft class & they were all skipped in the draft. There have been more busts that break out stars. Arenas, Rashard Lewis, Boozer, all 2nd round draft picks. Big Ben wasn’t even drafted. You just never know. Joe Smith was picked ahead of KG & Dirk. Again you never know. It feels like the pistons always make the wrong choice. We’ve gotten lucky twice. Had we lost the series to orlando in Princes rookie year, Melo would have been picked up, we wouldn’t have grabbed sheed, Memet Okur would never have been an allstar, Tay wouldn’t be a gold medalist & the 04 champs would be the LA lakers. You have to put thing into perspective. Nothing lasts forever. We definitely need a superstar on our squad, but the draft isn’t where we need to look. I would hope we get lucky with Stuck & he becomes that guy or Tay finally lives up to the expectations offensively but that’s all wishful thinking. We will have between 15 & 22 million to spend this summer depending on what the cap is. That’s a lot of cheese to lure the right guy. Most bad teams will look to shed deals. But most teams will also hold onto their star. We need to go after a young up & comer that is on the verge of being a star. Look at Danny Granger & the new AI in Philly. Monte Ellis in GS. There are young talented players out there but Joe has to be aggressive & pull the trigger, but we all know he won’t. Sad to say but we may be Boozer bound & stuck in the bottom bracket of the Playoffs for the near future. Sucks to be a Pistons fan these days, but the draft ain’t gonna get us over the hump. We need to make some trades to upgrade oh & FIRE Michael Curry. Bad bad choice Joe. Curry is the worse coach I’ve ever seen. If he is qualified, where can I get an application to apply for the job when you finally wise up & release that cat? Sad sad year.

I have been a huge Pistons fan my whole life and I can’t even make it through a whole game. I am pretty sure I am a Nuggets fan for the rest of the playoffs the game last night was fun to watch and it was fun to watch Chauncey play (who is on fire btw). I would love for Chauncey to get another ring to flaunt in Joe D’s face.

I’m telling you, no one on the team right now is a superstar. Like miguel said, you need a superstar to compete for a title. It was dumb to bench Iverson. And for all you detroit fans who hate, he TRIED TO play detroit ball (passing more like a guarding, dishing after he drives in the lane). Almost 80% of the time, the person he dished it out to (sheed, tay, rip) botched the shot. it was horrible. Maybe if detroit basketball got over the fact that Chauncy left, the couldve let AI be the new leader. Egos to blame all over here, not just AI.

Lets think about this another way too from AI’s perspective. You’ve been THE star for the previous ballclubs you’ve played for and you’re going to a team that recently just won a title and has its own set way about playing the game. If you sacrifice the points (which he did btw), and adjust the game you’ve played your entire life for the chance to win, and then the administration says “yeah, you’re just not cutting it for us, we’re gonna bench you” that’s a slap to the face. If this same thing were happening to Kobe or Dwade, the public would be outraged and defend the player. But not Allen, right.

Only chance detroit has at game 3 or 4 is to play Iverson. That is unless Detroit ego prefers a sweep instead of putting aside stubbornness.